Today at the Commission, the calm before the storm

The Dutch elections (check our live blog here and list of must-reads here) are in full swing and the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is in Strasbourg, so this was the shortest midday Commission press conference since POLITICO started its midday brief.

In the latest round of the diplomatic spat between Ankara and some EU countries, Juncker told MEPs “The European union is not joining Turkey, Turkey is joining the EU”.

Deputy chief spokesperson Alexander Winterstein announced that the Commission has published its 2015 activity report.

In an almost empty press room, the only question was about the Spanish government’s willingness to arrange the merger of Banco Mare Nostrum and Bankia, two banks nationalized in the fallout the financial crisis.

Bloomberg has more details here on the merger but the Commission said “it is the responsibility of the Spanish government” to check on whether the merger complies with EU state aid rules. It has no opinion on the merger itself.